Berry-crate



(No Model.) j l P. A. a.; R. s. WIMBROWAU H. P. DALE.

BARRY CRATE. 4 No. 517,713. Patented Alun-'3, 1894.

w f l l l1U1.\u:TED STATES PATENTv OFFICE..y

PETER A. WIMBRow, ROBERT s. wIMBRoW, AND HARRYP. DALE, or ,wi-IALEYsvILLE, MARYLAND.

BERRY-CRATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 517,718, dated April 3, 1894.

' Aplicaion ned July 10,1893. serai 110.480.063. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.'

Be tknown that we, PETER A. WIMBRO'W, ROBERT S. WIMBROW, and HARRY P. DALE, of Whaleysville, in the county of Worcester and State of Maryland, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Berry-Crates, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to certain improvements in berry crates, and it consists inthe peculiar construction and arrangement of the various parts wherebyastrong and light crate is made at a moderate cost, and one well call culated to safely hold the berry baskets Without injuring the'berries.

This peculiar construction we will now proc`ed to describe with reference to the drawings'in whichw Figure l is a side elevation of the crate partly in section. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section, and Fig. 3 a vertical transn verse section.

allel side or slat strips B, and horizontal rails or top strips C C C2. The vertical side strips Bare made of veneer and are quitef thin and flexible, in contradistinction to stiff pickets or bars. Their lower ends are secured to an imperforate bottom D by a nailawhich also passes through the bottom strips A A." These vertical strips are also further secured t0 the bottom strips A A by two nails a a driven into them from the outside, so as to make a stiff joint thatrequires .no angular bracing. At the upper vendsthe vertical veneer strips B are secured y.to the upper horizontal stripsv by a peculiar construction of the latter. For this purpose the upper horizontal strips C C C2 are grooved out vertically by a saw or otherwise on their lower edges so as to form a deep and narrow vertical groove that'penetrates to about one half the vertical depth of the strips. This groove is just wide enough to receive the thickness of the veneer strips ywhose ends are cut off square, and are forced Y up into the groove until their said square ends fit closely against the bottom of the groove. In this position they are secured by a single nail c driven through both vthe horizontal strip and the vertical strip. This single nail tightlyholds the vertical strip in the groove, and as the squared upper endof.

the vertical strip bears solidly against the bottom ofthe groove there can be no turning or pivotal motion about this nail, and all angular bracing is dispensed with. This makes a very light, strong, and cheap construction for this part ofthe crate.

`E is the cover which is a plain imperforate board having transverse cleats d on its under side, a rabbet e at one of its longitudinal edges, and a metal hasp or fastening f at its opposite edge adapted to be secured by the v staple g on the side of the crate.

In constructing the upper horizontal strips C C O2, the edges of the' front sideand two ends are rabbeted or recessed to allow the lid to t down into the same iush, but the back strip C2 is'simply grooved in its inner side so as to lleave au overhanging lip h beneath which is secured the recessed edge e of the lid. When the lid has the recessed edge c inserted beneath the lip h and the vother edge is fastened bythe staple or otherwise, it will be seen that it is impossible to remove said lid until it is regularly opened by the removal of the hasp or other fastening.

n When the lid E is fitted bodily down into the grooved edges of the rail, it will be seen that said cover lies flush with theupper edge of the rail, and in this relation itacts as a brace against the crushing inwardly of the' top rail, and especially against diagonal or skewing strains which resultfrom pitching the crates offthe wagon and landing uponthe corners. When such strain comes the cover with its right angular corners, iittiug within the right angles of the top rail, braces and maintains these corners against any possible change of angle, which such oblique strains would tend to produce. Furthermore as the side strips are of very light and. thin stuff, the upper edges of the rail sections would bend inwardly were they not braced and held stiffly by the flush fitted corner. Hencer there is a co-active or correlated lfunction between the special construction. of the sides and top'of the crate; that is to say the rail sections with the deep grooves in their lower edges and the insertedveneer slats, are correlated to the rabbeted upper inner edge ofthe rail and the Iiush litted cover.

The objects of the cleats cl on the under side of the lid is to press down upon the edges of the baskets, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, so as to hold the tiers of baskets firmly wthout meshing the berries.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire t-o secure by Letters Patent, is

A rectangular berry crate having each of its front top rail seetionseomposed of a single piece of Wood having a deep narrow central groove in its lower edge, and a groove or recess on its upper and inner edge; in combination with the Jchin slat-strips entered into the deep narrow groove in the lower edge of I5 the rail sections, and a cover or lid fitting bodily down into the recesses ofthe upper edges, substantially as and for the purpose described.

PETER A. WIMBROW. ROBERT s. WIMBnow. HARRY P. DALE.

Witnesses: i

J AMES I-I. GRIDLEY, SoLoN C. KEMON. 

